Night Rider (Niall Horan)

[6] High and Dry

"Horan. I would say it's good to see you but. It's not." The bald headed guy flashed a crooked grin down at Niall. He towered over him. A guy that size could make anyone fearful. But Niall didn't even blink.

"Keep it short Mark."

"What are we racing for little man? You call it."

"Six grand."

Mark's eyes widened slightly. "Grand?"

"You heard me. You in or out?"

Mark straightened up, his eyes narrowing. "In."

"Great, little man." Niall said mockingly, and slapped Mark's arm. "First race is Liam and Ian." With that, he turned away from him making his way into the garage, his loud voice calling out. It echoed through the garage. "Liam."

Liam looked up from giving his car a smooth, glossy finish on it's surface.

"You're up. Knock 'em dead mate. Six grand is on the table."

Liam smirked, putting a snapback on top of his head. Everyone in the garage started cheering and whistling for Liam and he started his engine. He drove just outside the garage lining up next to his opponents vehicle. Liam looked over at the guy in the jet black car. I looked at him too; fear and intimidation already in his eyes. This boosted Liam's confidence probably by a million and he just smiled.

My eyes turned to Niall who was walking slowly in front of the huge crowd that had come to watch. It had doubled in size in the past five minutes. He looked as if he was thinking about something very important, making a decision in his mind. His eyes scanned the bodies of every girl he passed, a sly grin plastered on his face. He handed a red headed girl a dirty rag.

"Do the honors, would you beautiful?"

She smiled at him. "It would be my pleasure." She walked past him and stood in the middle of the two cars.

I watched the girl closely as she held the rag up in the air. Just like the other chick at the first race I'd been to, this girl looked at each racer, waited for them to beep at her twice, and she threw the rag down in a flash. The cars screeched past her, reaching top speeds in milliseconds.

The crowd erupted into excited murmurs and watched as the vehicles went up the dirt road that began the twisty ride up a dangerously high mountain. The guy Liam was going against, Ian I think his name was, blasted in front of him taking the lead. They sped out of sight and when they reached the front side of the mountain again, Liam gunned in front of him.

Before I knew it, the cars were speeding back down the mountain. Their tires making high pitched squeals with every drifty turn. Liam was still in the lead when they flew past the white line.

Ian stepped out of his car, throwing his jacket off of himself violently, as if there were a billion ants trying to bit him and they were all on that jacket.

He stomped on the leather jacket yelling at the top of his lungs. "Fuck! Fuck!"

His screams were out shined by the crowd roaring as Liam hopped out of his car.

They cheered, "Payno! Payno! Payno!" And Liam started to break dance to the beat of his own nickname, making me giggle.

Ian was yanked by Mark, and taken behind the crowd of people to where no one could see. I could still see from the side of the crowd, still in front of the wave of people.

"Teach him something boys. And take the six grand from his damn pockets!" Mark bellowed angrily, handing the man easily over to a group of three different guys. They pushed and shoved him into their car and drove away from the mountain. Mark made his way to the car parked next to Niall's, an angry look still on his facial features.

An annoyed sigh sounded behind me. "Are you deaf? Can you move? You know what." Two strong hands wrapped around my upper arms and he lifted me 6 inches off the ground with ease setting me down to the right, creating a pathway for himself. I was mildly surprised by his actions and somehow I blushed a little once I knew who it was.

"I have a race to win, and I can't do that with you standing around like that." Niall shoved his hands into leather gloves and glanced at me. "And maybe... you should be in the passenger seat with me."

My eyes grew wide. "What? Me? Are you crazy?"

"Oh come on, it'll be fun." He grinned like an idiot. "Hop in sweetheart. Unless of course, you're too scared. In that case I understand."

"Scared?" I scoffed. "Hell, give me the car keys, and I'll drive." I walked around the front of the car and yanked the door open sitting in the passenger seat. My heart rate sped up faster than this car was about to go. I threw the seatbelt over my shoulder trying to shut the voices up that were in my head; voices that were telling me this was the worst idea I've ever had. I wasn't nearly as confident as I was trying to sound or act. Niall opened the door and sat down shutting it behind him. A smug look was on his face as the crowd started to chant his name.

"You ready?" As his fingers grazed the keys that were in the ignition, it was as if everything was in slow motion. The people surrounding his car were moving slower than normal, the chanting was slowed to an abnormal pace, and Niall's voice was muffled and slow as well. The only thing that could be heard was my heartbeat and my heavy breathing. They were fast, disconnected breathes and I stared straight ahead.